Bedwetting: helping your child overcome this embarrassing issue

Author: Austin Sheeley
Published: Dec 21 2012

Okay, so your kid wets the bed. That's normal. He'll grow out of it, right? But a few months go by and he doesn't seem to be getting any better. He's still wetting once a night. Maybe twice a night. Maybe he just sleeps right through till morning and you have no idea how many times he wets a night.

If you find yourself in this situation, don't stress out. Many parents think that bedwetting is something they have to wait for their child to “grow out of.” But that's simply not true. In fact, if your child is still bedwetting after age 5 (as 20% of children do) you need to take action. At that stage the spontaneous remission rate drops to 15% per year. That means if your child is wetting the bed, there's an 85% chance they'll still be wetting the bed a year from now. And that's no fun for anyone.

What's a parent to do?

Get Some Waterproof Bedding

No matter what you try, this isn't a problem that will go away instantly. Most likely it will take a month or two. In the meantime, some waterproof bedding will save everyone a lot of time and aggravation.

Double Voiding

This is a very simple strategy known to be effective. Just have your child pee twice during the hour before bed. Often times, one trip to the bathroom won't completely drain the bladder. But two should. If your child only has an accident every once in a while, this may be enough to stop it. If your child wets almost every night, probably not. But even then it should help.

Don't Give Your Kid Soda at Night

It was once believed that caffeine causes bedwetting. Some recent studies have called this into question, although it has not yet been disproven. Either way, we know that one's body tries to get rid of excess sugars by creating more urine. So avoid giving your child sugary drinks close to bed time.

Bedwetting Alarms

Currently, these are the only curative approach. Though medicines are available to stop nighttime urine production, when a child stops taking them they usually start wetting again. Bedwetting alarms on the other hand work by conditioning your child's body to know when to respond to a full bladder during sleep. They work by ringing/vibrating whenever your child wets, thereby waking them up. Soon your child's body will know to wake up before wetting starts, or learn to hold the urine in until morning. Either way, problem solved!

One final piece of advice – be supportive! Your child isn't bedwetting on purpose. It's not something they can control. Knowing you're there to help them overcome the issue, will make a big difference. Best of luck to your family!

Austin Sheeley is an avid blogger and writer for http://bedwettingstore.com/. His main focus is on pediatric health issues such as bedwetting and daytime wetting.

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